After the United States, public health officials in Mexico are sounding the alarm after a recent study discovered the presence of animal tranquillizer xylazine in opioids. Meanwhile, a report by the country’s government, on Friday (Apr 12) also found that it is facing a dire shortage of fentanyl for medical use.
‘Zombie drug’
Popularly known as the “tranq dope” or “zombie drug,” xylazine cut into heroin and fentanyl which has worsened the ongoing drug epidemic across various American cities
Notably, the animal tranquillizer was found in the opioids in cities in Mexico’s northwest, which border with the US.
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The findings have prompted Mexico’s health ministry in conjunction with the National Commission on Mental Health and Addictions to issue an alert for health personnel and first responders in the country’s border cities for “possible adulteration of heroin and fentanyl with xylazine.”
Since xylazine is a sedative it does not have the same effects as an opioid but it can make opioid overdose reversal treatments less effective. Therefore, it not only raises the risk of overdose-related deaths but can also cause severe skin abscesses that can be life-threatening.
Out of the 300 samples of drug residues tested in the cities of Tijuana and Mexicali, xylazine was found in 35 residues of heroin mixed with fentanyl and 26 fentanyl residues.
It is also worth noting that the study had set out to identify adulterants in drugs and just happened to stumble upon xylazine.
“We were surprised to find xylazine,” said Clara Fleiz from Mexico’s National Institute of Psychiatry and the study’s lead author, as quoted by Reuters.
The country’s alarm over xylazine also comes as consumption of fentanyl is reportedly increasing within its borders.
Mexico is running short of fentanyl
On Friday, Mexico reported yet another drug-related problem, as the country which is the leading producer of illicit fentanyl, can’t get enough for medical use. This is despite Mexican cartels reportedly pumping out tonens of the illicit narcotic.
However, the study by Mexico’s National Commission on Mental Health and Addictions did not give any reason for the shortage of fentanyl, which is needed for anaesthesia in hospitals, but claimed that it is a worldwide problem.
The report said that the country had to import fentanyl and the imports fell by more than 50 per cent between 2022 and 2023. However, during this time, seizures of illicit fentanyl rose from 1.24 tonnes (2022) to 1.85 tonnes last year.
The study has also attributed this shortage to the US saying that the “excessive use of opiates in recent decades in the United States has had important repercussions on consumption and supply in Mexico.”
Meanwhile, with the lack of availability of morphine and fentanyl, anesthesiologists in Mexico have been forced to acquire their own supplies and even administer multiple doses from a single vial to conserve.
The US Department of State’s 2023 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report said around 96 per cent of all fentanyl seized originated in Mexico.
(With inputs from agencies)